Why Is New York City Planning to Sell and Shrink Its Libraries?

Defend our libraries, don't defund them. . . . . fund 'em, don't plunder 'em

Mayor Bloomberg defunded New York libraries at a time of increasing public use, population growth and increased city wealth, shrinking our library system to create real estate deals for wealthy real estate developers at a time of cutbacks in education and escalating disparities in opportunity. It’s an unjust and shortsighted plan that will ultimately hurt New York City’s economy and competitiveness.

It should NOT be adopted by those we have now elected to pursue better policies.

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Forum: Where Do You Get Your News? What Are The Channels of Public Information Communication You Can Plug Into?

Assembling for News forum
On Sunday, March 4, 2018 Weaving The Fabric of Diversity Committee of Brooklyn's First Unitarian Universalist Congregation sponsored a forum that should be of interest to all library defenders*: Where Do You Get Your News? What Are The Channels of Public Information Communication You Can Plug Into?  It is intended that this forum be the first of a number of such forums relating to this subject.

(* The discussion was moderated by Citizens Defending Libraries co-founder Michal D. D. White.) 

You can listen to a recording of the forum (one hour twenty minutes): Where Do You Get Your News? (audio via Dropbox) or Where Do You Get Your News (audio via Soundcloud) or
Where Do You Get Your News (audio via Chirbit).

Audio on Soundcloud below.


Audio on Chirbit below


Check this out on Chirbit  

This page will also be updated to supply links to a Citizens Defending Libraries YouTube forum video.
  
The afternoon discussion (at the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation Chapel,119-121 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201) was an exchange information and ideas about how to get our information about important events in the world.  The discussion was promoted with questions about such things as: Where do we go to seek reliable news and complete information?  Should the country’s main stream media have reported the recent succession of unprecedentedly calamitous weather events without mentioning climate change?  Does a media drumbeat for war seem off-base? Do we hear about its cost?  Picking up newspapers, do we feel like you are reading compiled corporate press releases? What about Voting irregularities in the last election? As much of media ownership is consolidated in fewer corporations and when a wealthy few with disinformation agendas like the Kochs buy up ownership of outlets like Time magazine, where does truth take refuge to be found?  If your media literacy tells you that the most important part of narratives you are being served is what has been edited out how do you find what fills in the blanks?  Let’s identify what kinds of critical stories go unreported and how can we find out about them.

Conversely, when things need to become news, need to be known by the general public, what channels are there to transmit that information?  When structural reforms need to be made in our society they cannot be made unless we are able to exchange information about the changes that are needed: Serviceable channels for circulating information may be our threshold basic need.  How reliable is social media as an avenue for transmitting information and in what ways is it deceptively not?

Grist For Thought Sheet For the Forum

The sheet below was distributed at the forum as grist for thought and discussion.

Grist for thought.  (Click to enlarge- You can also print it.  Or you can save the image to zoom in on it.)

Facebook Event Pages

Two Facebook Event pages were posted for the event (and are still available for viewing).  The Citizens Defending Libraries is still useful if you want to see posted articles about the media or want to post additional such articles on that page.**  It is also possible to post comments on this page:
•        One Facebook Event Page is posted by Citizens Defending Libraries (if you click on "see all posts" on the event page there are postings of relevant articles for discussion).

•        The second Facebook Event Page is by the UUU Weaving the Fabric of Diversity host.
(** For instance, one piece of reading we suggest that is very relevant to the discussion is the section of Citizens Defending Libraries web page: It's Not Just The Real Estate Industry Threatening Libraries: Examining The Panoply of Other Threats.  Although the purpose of that page is to talk about threats to libraries is is also about threats to free flow of information and the forces that seek to control information or influence how it is presented.
Here are some pictures of that afternoon.



















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